On February 24, U.S. forces boarded the sanctioned oil tanker Bertha in the Indian Ocean while it was operating near the Maldives, as part of an effort to disrupt suspected shipments of Venezuelan crude linked to sanctions evasion. U.S. authorities said they had tracked the vessel from the Caribbean/Venezuelan waters across the Indian Ocean before conducting the boarding.
The operation marks the third such interdiction in the region following earlier actions involving the tankers Aquila II and Veronica III.
According to reported cargo details, Bertha was carrying roughly 1.9 million barrels of Venezuela’s Merey heavy crude and was believed to be destined for China. The tanker is described as Cook Islands-flagged and linked to Shanghai Legendary Ship Management Company Limited.
U.S. sanctions on the vessel date to December 2024, when it was designated in connection with Iran-related oil shipments and ties to the same Chinese ship-management network.
